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pdfconversionapi

WPD to PNG API

Send a WordPerfect file to POST /v2/convert/wpd/to/png and get a PNG of every page. With no options, the two-page sample returns 262,729 and 186,058 bytes of RGB pixels drawn at 150 DPI, with no alpha channel.

Endpoint
POST /v2/convert/wpd/to/png
Accepts
wpd
Sample timing
0.572 s median of 5 runsHow we measure
Request size
Up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files together

Request and response

Every sample below ran against the API before this page was published. Set PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY to your key and run it as is.

curl -sS -X POST \
  https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/wpd/to/png \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY" \
  -F File=@hearing-notice.wpd \
  -o response.json

# FileData is base64. Save the first file in converted/,
# or print the JSON error.
if jq -e '.Files' response.json > /dev/null; then
  mkdir -p converted
  name=$(jq -r '.Files[0].FileName' response.json)
  jq -r '.Files[0].FileData' response.json \
    | base64 --decode > "converted/$name"
else
  cat response.json
fi
200 OK0.572 s median2 files, 438 KB
{
  "ConversionCost": 1,
  "ConversionTime": 0.572,
  "Files": [
    {
      "FileName": "hearing-notice-1.png",
      "FileExt": "png",
      "FileSize": 262729,
      "FileData": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA…"
    },
    {
      "FileName": "hearing-notice-2.png",
      "FileExt": "png",
      "FileSize": 186058,
      "FileData": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA…"
    }
  ]
}

Response from our test run on 2026-11-03. ConversionTime shows the median of 5 runs. FileData is shortened here; the real response carries the whole file as base64.

The sample, converted

The same file the code sends. Download the input and the output and compare them yourself.

First page of hearing-notice-1.png, rendered by the API
Input
hearing-notice.wpd (1.8 KB)
Output
hearing-notice-1.png (257 KB)hearing-notice-2.png (182 KB)
Source
A two-page WordPerfect 5.1 public hearing notice for a fictional township, which we wrote byte by byte from the file format description (CC0-1.0). How it was made
Made by
2026-11-04, API build 9eeeb0640aba

Parameters

Send these as form fields next to the file. Names are case-insensitive. If you set one of the documented options below that we don't support yet, the request fails with a 400 that names it instead of returning a file made without it.

ParameterWhat it does
ImageResolutioninteger, default 150Pixels per inch of paper, stored in the PNG's pHYs chunk when you send it. 72 gives 612 × 792 (100,638 bytes for page 1); 300 gives 2,550 × 3,300.Values: 36 to 600
ColorSpaceenum, default defaultgray keeps one channel instead of three and stored page 1 in 98,337 bytes. monochrome leaves only the values 0 and 255: 32,994 bytes. rgb gives the same 262,729-byte file as the default, which is already three-channel RGB.Values: default, rgb, gray, monochrome
TransparentColorstringOne exact color to clear. white made 96.6% of page 1 transparent, so only the type and the strikeout and underline rules stay.Values: Color name, #RRGGBB or R,G,B
BackgroundColorstringColor of the paper behind the text, white when left out.Values: Color name, #RRGGBB or R,G,B
PageRangestringWhich pages to draw; 2 returns the hearing procedure page alone.Values: Page numbers and ranges
ImageWidthintegerOutput width in pixels; the page is drawn at the scale that width needs.Values: 1 to 20,000
ImageHeightintegerOutput height in pixels: 600 gave 464 × 600. With ImageWidth=400 as well, the page fits the box at 309 × 400.Values: 1 to 20,000
ScaleProportionsboolean, default truefalse stretches the page to exactly ImageWidth × ImageHeight: 400 × 400 for a 400-pixel box.
ScaleImageboolean, default truefalse cuts instead of scaling: ImageWidth=600 with ImageHeight=300 returned the top-left 600 × 300 pixels of the page drawn at 150 DPI.
FileNamestringStem for -1.png, -2.png and so on.
StoreFileboolean, default falseStore the PNGs and send back links that expire after 3 hours.

What carries over, and what doesn't

Kept

  • Exact pixels: PNG is lossless, so even the 7.2 pt disclaimer has no compression artifacts around its letters
  • The page's tonal range: 256 shades of neutral gray and no color, as the document is black on white
  • Each paragraph's alignment from the WordPerfect codes: the justified block, the centered heading and the right-aligned posting date
  • Page order, as hearing-notice-1.png and hearing-notice-2.png

Lost or not yet supported

  • A see-through background unless you ask: the default PNG has no alpha channel, and only TransparentColor adds one.
  • Copyable text. Use the PDF route to keep the words.
  • The document's font: text set in the WordPerfect default, Times New Roman, is drawn in Liberation Serif.
  • A DPI value when ImageResolution is left out.

Limits

  • ImageWidth and ImageHeight take up to 20,000, but a Letter page 9,000 pixels wide is 104.8 million pixels and returns 413; the cap is 100 million pixels and 16,000 pixels per side.
  • PageSize, PageOrientation and other page setup options return 400 "... is not supported yet for WPD files".
  • Up to 2,000 pages, 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans per request and 120 seconds per conversion; a longer run returns 504.

Where teams use it

Page images for a document viewer

A viewer built on plain image tags can show .wpd files once each page is a PNG. Lossless pixels keep thin rules such as the notice's strikeout and underline free of compression noise.

Overlays and compositing

With TransparentColor=white the paper disappears and the text can be laid over a letterhead, a form background or a slide.

Questions

How do I get a PNG with a transparent background?

Send TransparentColor=white. The paper becomes transparent and the text stays: 2,032,283 of page 1's 2,103,750 pixels were cleared. The light gray pixels along the edges of letters are not pure white, so they stay opaque.

How can I make the PNGs smaller?

For pages of text, ColorSpace=gray keeps every shade and cut page 1 from 262,729 to 98,337 bytes. monochrome drops the smoothing for 32,994 bytes, and a lower ImageResolution cuts the pixel count further.

What resolution do I need for small print?

The notice's 7.2 pt line is drawn at 15 pixels per em at the default 150 DPI. For printing or close reading, ImageResolution=300 draws page 2 at 2,550 × 3,300 pixels in 452,335 bytes.

Convert your first WPD file in a minute.